Tour Roanoke Announces “Blue Ridge Wine Tour”

Virginia's wine country is among the most beautiful in the world.
Virginia’s wine country is among the most beautiful in the world.

Tour Roanoke, which hosts the Roanoke Food Tour and the Roanoke Craft Beer Tour, recently launched the Blue Ridge Wine Tour.

The Blue Ridge Wine Tour is all about supporting, discovering, and enjoying the work of the region’s local wine makers. On this tour, guests are transported to two or three local wineries for tours and wine tastings.

“We find the more guests appreciate our city’s and region’s history, and get to know our local culinary, beer and wine makers, the food, beer and wine simply taste richer,” said Larry Landolt, founder of Tour Roanoke.

“When local tour guests grow in appreciation of what is available here in our region, they appear to grow in pride for their community,” said Landolt – recipient of the 2015 Tourism Ambassador Award from the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They also love to show-off our region to visiting friends and family. We’ve even had out of town guests on the tours claim they plan to move here as a result of their experience.”

The Blue Ridge Wine Tour currently visits wineries in Botetourt and Bedford Counties, and plans to expand in the future.

The educational component of the Blue Ridge Wine Tour is focused on increasing the “Wine IQ” of guests. To accomplish this, tours of the wine making facilities include viewing the equipment used to produce the wine and intimate conversations with the wine makers themselves.

The centuries old process of making wine is discussed as well. However, in addition to the wine tastings on the tour, it’s the tour of the vineyard with discussion about the complexities and uncertainties of growing grapes in the Virginia climate that is a highlight of the tour for many.

Landolt points out that the element of the tour that he enjoys most is introducing the wine makers, and explaining how each arrived and chose this profession. “Our region’s wine makers are so incredibly passionate and dedicated to growing grapes and making wine, it’s rewarding to tell their story.”

Virginia is ranked fifth in the U.S. for the number of wineries by state, but just ninth in annual production of cases according to Landolt. “In our view this confirms that Virginia is dotted with small family run farm wineries. These are the wineries we love to tour,” said Landolt.

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